Poem from Walden by Henry David Thoreau

On this day in 1854, Henry David Thoreau's Walden; or, Life in the Woods, in which Thoreau described his experiences while living near Walden Pond in Massachusetts, was first published. Here is a poem that Thoreau wrote and that he included in that book.

It is no dream of mine,
To ornament a line;
I cannot come nearer to God and Heaven
Than I live to Walden even.
I am its stony shore,
And the breeze that passes o'er;
In the hollow of my hand
Are its water and its sand,
And its deepest resort
Lies high in my thought.

Original title page of Walden featuring a picture

drawn by Thoreau's sister Sophia

To read more about Walden by Henry David Thoreau, click here.